Plants are arranged in five sections: Trees and Shrubs, Succulents, Cacti, Wildflowers (further grouped by flower color), and Nonflowering Plants. Each plant profile is illustrated with a drawing by botanist Robert DeWitt Ivey and a photograph by the author.

This proceedings contains 50 papers including an overview of shrubland ecosystem dynamics in a changing environment and several papers each on vegetation dynamics, management concerns and options, and plant ecophysiology as well as an account of a Jornada Basin field trip. Contributions emphasize the impact of changing environmental conditions on vegetative composition especially in the Jornada Basin and Chihuahuan Desert but also in other parts of western North America and the world.

This guide uses color photographs and brief descriptions to help identify a variety of plants native to the northern Chihuahuan Desert, including Big Bend National Park, Big Bend Ranch State Park, and the Davis Mountains. Split into helpful categories of trees, shrubs, succulents, wildflowers, and ferns, this guide is useful for casual visitors as well as plant enthusiasts. This light-weight, durable laminated guide's six double-panels fold for convenient carrying and use in the field.

"Northern Chihuahuan Desert Wildflowers" is the ultimate field guide to the flora of the Chihuahuan Desert in southern New Mexico and West Texas. This valuable reference enables all desert enthusiasts to identify quickly and accurately hundreds of Chihuahuan Desert plants. The easy-to-use guide features: More than 270 color photographs; precise descriptions of 261 species; habitat/range information; historical and cultural notes; an educational glossary; a complete index of scientific and common names; descriptions of national parks of the region. Author Steve West has spent more than 30 years studying the flora and fauna of this fascinating part of the country and has skillfully woven his own observations with those of distinguished botanists and fellow naturalists. The clear and concise plant descriptions and detailed color photos make this a great field guide for the layman as well as the botanist. More than a simple field guide, "Northern Chihuahuan Desert Wildflowers" is an invitation to discover this ecologically spectacular habitat. If Carlsbad Caverns, Big Bend, and Guadalupe Mountains are on your itinerary, be sure to take this indispensable guide along.